Yemen conflict escalation to benefit US, Israel: MPs

ISLAMABAD: On the second day of the ongoing discussion in the joint sitting of parliament on the Middle East crisis, legislators from both sides of the aisle said the escalation of the conflict in Yemen will benefit the US and Israel.
A majority of the speakers were of the view that Pakistan should not get involved in any military engagement in any country and it should instead safeguard its own interests and internal security while playing a mediatory role to end the conflict in the Middle East.
PML-Q’s Secretary General Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said Pakistan should play a ‘leadership role’ to resolve the Yemen crisis. The PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said there should be no Pakistani boots on the Yemen soil and it should assist Saudis in logistics, intelligence sharing, security of key installations, training in mountain and difficult terrain warfare and medical assistance.
Taking part in the debate, amir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Sirajul Haq called upon the government to avoid becoming a party in Yemen. Sirajul Haq said Pakistan should put out this fire. “I believe there is loss for both the Arab countries in this war,” he said. Siraj said a parliamentary delegation comprising members from different sects should be formed and sent to different Islamic countries to find an amicable solution for Yemen crisis.
He feared that Saudi-Yemen conflict could trigger sectarian strife in the Muslim world, saying that Pakistan must be aware of the “great game” and global powers. “I consider the Yemen war a part of the great game. Pakistan, therefore, should be aware of the international game as well as imperial designs. Global powers may take advantage of this war,” he opined.About any possible threat to Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty from Yemeni rebels, he said, “Divine hand will save the holy places of Makkah and Madina against any evil design.”
He said all Muslim countries, including Iran, should respect Saudi Arabia’s territorial integrity. “To safeguard Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty is responsibility of all of us. We are ready to render our lives in defence of Harmain Sharifain. We are an important stakeholder in the Muslim world and should work together with our friendly countries to bring normalcy,” he said.
Siraj said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had played an appreciable role during Iran-Iraq war “and today again the nation is looking towards the Parliament and the prime minister”.Mushahid Hussain opposed any military engagement outside Pakistan and said Islamabad should rather play a ‘leadership role’ to resolve the Yemen crisis.
Mushahid dubbed Yemen as a ‘quicksand’ as nobody can win a war there. “We should not have any military engagement outside Pakistan unless and until we put our house in order,” he asserted.
“This is not a sectarian conflict, this is basically a tribal struggle for power,” he said, adding that this has unfortunately now become a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East.
Mushahid suggested that a session of the United Nations Security Council should be convened with the assistance of China to broker a ceasefire following which elections should be held in Yemen. “Yemen is like Afghanistan…it’s a quicksand. Pakistan should not entangle itself in any proxy war,” he asserted.
Farhatullah Babar said this is like walk on a tight rope. He suggested that this limited assistance to the kingdom should be accompanied with a balancing act through stepped up dialogue with Iran on border security and bilateral talks on Afghanistan. “It is not in our national interests to be used by any Middle Eastern country for posturing against Iran,” he said.
He said that Pakistan was the biggest contributor to UN peace-keeping and called for UN peace-keeping in Yemen. “This will enable us to have our troops in Yemen but only for peace-keeping and under the UN patronage,” he added.
Babar said an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian assistance must also receive priority as delay will not only result in a human catastrophe but also defeat the very purpose of the ongoing operation in Yemen. He said that the crisis in Yemen is basically political that needs a political solution and not a military response.
The senator said that last week Iran offered that it could talk with Saudi Arabia for resolving the Yemen crisis. “This provides an opening for Pakistan to act as an honest mediator,” he added.
He recalled that intervention in Jordon in 1967 to drive out Palestinians earned some dollars but alienated the PLO which then never supported Pakistan on the issue of Kashmir.
Babar said the intervention in Afghanistan in the name of Islam earned some dollars but also brought huge devastation in the form of drugs and Kalashnikov culture, refugees and rise of militancy. “By adopting ‘iman, taqwa, jehad fi sabelillah’ as the fighting motto for our forces, we paved way for privatisation of jehad in the country and its devastating consequences,” he added.
He said that after 9/11 on a telephone call Pakistan allowed its air bases to be used for strikes against Afghanistan and as a result we may have got some $20 billion but also lost over 56,000 citizens including soldiers and suffered huge material losses in militancy. “Faced with the choice of playing the role of an interventionist on the side of any country or as honest peace-maker, Pakistan should opt for the latter,” he said.
He also welcomed the PTI lawmakers for rejoining the parliament as “triumph of Parliament and democracy” and criticised Defence Minister Khawaja Asif for his brashness against the PTI and called for expunging the defence minister’s unparliamentary remarks.
President National Party (NP) Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo urged the government not to indulge Pakistan in Yemen crisis which he described as the war-torn country’s internal affair. “We are discussing it as it’s our own issue. This House is debating it as if war has entered Pakistani territory. This debate is useless. We must stay away from Yemen’s internal problems,” said Bizenjo.
He said this is not the matter of Muslim Ummah but an affair of Arab world.Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour of the ANP said Pakistan has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia and it has always stood by Pakistan in the hour of trial. “However, we should stay away from this conflict and only play the role of a mediator,” he added. He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should take along other Muslim rulers for the early resolution of Yemen crisis.
Parliamentary leader of Fata, Dr Ghazi Gulab Jamal said Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should play a leading role in the settlement of Saudi-Yemeni conflict. He said Pakistan should not become part of this conflict as the country is already faced with many problems.
President of the PML-Z Ijazul Haq proposed that a meeting of big Islamic countries should be convened to discuss the proposal of establishment of peace-keeping force of Muslims.
He said had there been a peace-keeping force of Muslims, the current Middle East crisis would not have occurred. He also expressed concerns over the toppling of legitimate Yemeni government by Houthi rebels.